2. case study
…examines the characteristics of a
particular entity, phenomenon, or
person
Select a unit of analysis - singularity
3. Is useful for describing or answering
questions about particular, localized
occurrences or contexts
AND / OR
the perspectives of a participant group
toward events, beliefs, or practices
4. Illuminates the “invisibility of everyday life”
…by making the familiar strange, more
examined, and better understood
5. Types of Cases
The critical case – You already have a theory (hypothesis) and the
case with prove or disprove it
The extreme case – the elements you are looking for a
pronounced and highlight the concept / hypothesis
The exemplifying case – the elements are broadly showing a
theory
The longitudinal case – data over time sheds light on development
of the concept
6. Case Study – Your first questions
What is your Unit of Analysis?
“ A single ..................”
Family
Behaviour
Location
Perception
Community
Attitudes
Person
Beliefs
Organisation
Knowledge
Processes
Language
What is shown by the case…?
7. What are you doing – the
researcher?
Descriptive phase: Its construction
relies heavily on “thick” verbal
descriptions of a particular social
context being studied
Analysis phase: Its meaning relies on
your interpretations and thematic logic
8. …employ expressive language and
voice in descriptions and explanations
…judged in terms of believability,
trustworthiness, coherence, and the
logic underlying researcher’s
interpretations
10. • Issues in primary qualitative
research...
a. gaining entry
b. contacting potential research
participants
c. being prepared
d. capturing all data in the moment
11. a. gaining entry...
access is dependent upon the
researcher’s personal and professional
characteristics and how others perceive
the researcher
may require considerable negotiation
with a gatekeeper – a friend or
acquaintance
trust is earned, not given
12. b. contacting participants...
• Have the consent form with synopsis
ready
build trust and ensure confidentiality
Do what you say you will - reliability
13. c. be prepared
Preparation includes:
The Rationale / Validity Table (see class
notes)
Consent forms
Observation sheet
Thank You Letter
14. The threats to validity in qualitative
studies...
Observer Effect
…the impact of the observer’s
participation on the setting or the
participants being studied
15. the researcher records descriptive
as well as reflective notes about
what one has seen, heard,
experienced, and thought about a
during an observation session
Teacher_Observation_Checklist
16. regarding field notes…
notes
…put aside assumptions,
experience context first
…see phenomena
through participants’
perspective
…write up notes
immediately following
an observation
18. Selecting the case
the goal is to get the deepest
possible understanding of the
setting being studied
Photos, descriptions, memos,
field notes, videos, narratives
from others
19. Collecting data... KEEP IT ALL
TOGETHER
observations – field notes about
other people’s primary data
(video or document)
official documents – govt.
photographs, recordings, emails
media reports – different sources
informal conversations - memos
20. Themes
As you collect data, categorise it around your objectives,
themes, sub-categories
Have some decided already
But leave other so they can emerge
21. The threats to validity in qualitative
studies...
observer bias…
bias
…invalid information resulting from the
perspective the researcher brings to
the study and imposes upon it
Question: what are your biases
regarding your topic?
22. Gathering and Theme-ing data
…detail is critical: topic theme on
every note; leave wide margins
for writing impressions; use only
one side of a page of paper; draw
diagram of site (if necessary)
…list key words first, then outline
one’s observations
23. …keep the descriptive (context) and
reflective (analysis) sections separate
in your note book
…use memos to record
hunches, questions, and
insights after each
observation – group these
later
25. classifying the data, including
categorization, coding, and
grouping into thematic units
interpreting and synthesizing the
organized data into general
conclusions or understandings
26. • Checking for Validity
a. credibility or plausibility
b. transferability
c. including a methods section
27. credibility
or plausibility
…to demonstrate that the study was
conducted in such a manner as to
ensure that the subject was
accurately identified and
described
28. transferability
…to demonstrate that the results of
the study are generalizable to
others in the original research
context or to contexts beyond the
original study
29. including a methods section
…to provide an in-depth description
of the processes and methods
used in the study
30. • Strategies for analyzing qualitative
data...
a. constant comparison method
b. negative case and discrepant data
methods
c. analytic induction
31. constant comparison method
…compares new evidence to prior
evidence to identify similarities
and differences between
observations
32. negative case and discrepant data
methods
…the search for contradictory,
variant, or disconfirming data
within the body of data collected
that provides an alternative
perspective on an emerging
category or pattern
33. analytic induction
…a process concerned with
developing and testing a theory in
order to generalize a study’s
findings
34. 5. Writing the research report...
Describe the setting where the data
were collected
Identify characters of focus
describe the social action in which
the characters are engaged
offer an interpretation of what
the social action means to the
characters